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Posted July 5, 2013 05:22 am - Updated July 10, 2013 09:13 am

Starbucks deal earns national attention

Three days after Father’s Day, I became a father for the fourth time. This time my wife and I had a daughter. She’s cute as a button and will be ruling her three brothers before we know it. So my two-week paternity leave is over, and I’m back in the business editor’s chair.

HONORABLE MENTION: Augusta’s Starbucks plant was an honorable mention in Site Selection magazine when it ranked the top economic development deals in North America.

Walter Sprouse, the executive director of Augusta’s economic development authority, sent word that it appears in the development magazine’s May edition, which honored 20 projects in the country.

Starbucks is under construction in the Augusta Corporate Park.

The deal was also honored by the Georgia Economic Developers Association.

Georgia had a few deals on that list, including Caterpillar in Athens and Baxter International in Social Circle.

INDEX DECLINES: The Augusta Leading Economic Index, compiled every month by the Hull College of Business at Georgia Regents University, went down. June’s report concerns April’s index data – down 0.7 percent from March. It means the economy in Augusta is going to soften.

CARESOUTH GROWS AGAIN: CareSouth Health System Inc., based in Augusta, is a home health care provider. It entered into a joint venture Tuesday with an Iowa senior living developer called LCS.

CareSouth’s partnership with LCS will provide a higher level of coordinated care within the senior living settings provided by LCS.

“There is a strong cultural compatibility between our companies, as we are both passionate about positive care outcomes and personalized customer service,” said Ed Kenny, chief executive of LCS.